02/01/2017 Midlands Today

The government's given the go-ahead for a so called "garden" village

of 3,500 homes to be built in Warwickshire.

It'll be created at Long Marston Airfield,

But, as Peter Wilson reports, there's already

Long Marston lies just three miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon.

The airfield was once home to RAF Bomber Command.

Now the government wants to turn the 800 acre site into one

of its planned garden villages, with more than 3000 homes.

Well, we're very pleased that it's gone through.

We were expecting it to go through at the end of November,

but we will have somewhere which is more rural to look at,

with road infrastructure, with rail infrastructure,

The site includes one of the country's few

Every day, some 40 light aircraft use the airfield.

You've got motor gliding, you've got aviators up at the top there,

so they are going to have to move somewhere else, and, well,

Long Marston is famous for its Bulldog Bash music festival.

Now, along with the other activities and organisations based here,

all are now looking for a new location.

We have the microlights that fly and train regularly.

It is going to affect a lot of people in many ways,

and to find another site is going to be damn near impossible.

The garden village is ambitious and includes plans for two primary

schools, a high school, and a ?30 million road scheme,

Along with more than 3,000 homes planned for the airfield site,

more than 4,000 jobs will also be created.

A woman's died after house fire on New Year's Day.

Fire crews were called to Fourth Avenue at Bordesley Green

in Birmingham, just after 7am yesterday morning.

A 54-year-old woman died at the scene.

The fire isn't being treated as suspicious.

Unfortunately it is a great loss for the community, and obviously,

we need to take some measures so that this incident

A units across the Midlands have been under severe pressure

Waiting times at the Royal Stoke University Hospital have been

around three hours today, down from a peak of

And three of Worcestershire's minor injury units at Bromsgrove,

Evesham and Tenbury were closed again today to free up staff to

help out at the county's two main A departments.

NHS managers say demand has been particularly high

He's been called one of the most important British footballers

of the 20th century, playing for England and Stoke City.

But now, a new book aims to tell the forgotton story of Frank Soo -

the first non-white person to play for England.

He was a household name in the 1930s and '40s.

His biographer says he was up there with the greats.

So it is something of a mystery that Frank Soo has been all but forgotten

During his lifetime, he was recognised to be an equal

of Stanley Matthews, Tommy Lawton, Billy Wright,

Anyone who knows about football in that era knows

Frank Soo was with Stanley Matthews at Stoke City.

He also played alongside him for England, wearing the number six.

During the war, he joined the RAF and played as a guest player

for other clubs, including Chelsea,

But Frank Soo was half Chinese, the first non-white player

His family believe he has been overlooked because of his ethnicity.

I feel he is an important figure in his own right, irrespective

He was actually one of the most important figures in

20th century football history, in my opinion.

Frank Soo spent the rest of his career after the war coaching,

He died in 1991, largely unknown, in his home country.

Susan Gardner hoped her account of his life story will get him

Dudley has been singled out in a national report

It comes after the borough introduced ten outdoor gyms.

Experts say not only have they helped people get fitter,

Currently there are around 40,000 users and crime

The gritters will be overnight in Staffordshire tonight among other

Hello, a very good evening to you, and a Happy New Year.

What a transformation today was after yesterday's dull

We had quite a thick hoarfrost across the region this morning,

all rounded off by this burning sunset.

But we have got high-pressure in control to the west this week,

so that is going to keep things largely settled in spite of these

frontal systems pushing down from the north

However, it is quite be much milder and more unsettled

as we head into the weekend, but generally speaking this is how

Mostly settled but cold with frosty nights before we hit the weekend.

But for tonight we have got clear skies across us.

Just a bit of cloud edging into the north which will keep

temperatures slightly above freezing here, but generally speaking

they are falling to -2 Celsius, with a fairly widespread frost.

So it is going to be a dry start to the day tomorrow,

but a frosty one, particularly in the south.

That cloud spilling southwards, so a duller day than today.

I will leave you now with the outlook.

Good evening. It's been a dry and bright day across most parts of the

country today. Despite the chilly feel to the weather, there has been

some sunshine. Clear skies as the sun set in east Essex. With those

clear skies around, temperatures are plummeting, particularly across

southern parts. Here we see the coldest temperatures. We could see

icy stretches on untreated surfaces, pavements and roads first thing

Tuesday morning. Not quite as cold towards the North West. Cloud moving

in here through the overnight period. Lows to minus six or minus

seven degrees in one or two spots. A cold start to Tuesday. If you have

the commute back to work, it is looking milder towards the North

West. We have